1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus with a plurality of process furnaces, and in particular, to a preparatory work that is performed before starting an operation of a substrate processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional substrate processing apparatus which performs a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device such as DRAM includes a plurality of process furnaces each including a process chamber which processes a substrate, a plurality of process furnace control units connected to the plurality of process furnaces to individually control operations of the plurality of process furnaces, a comprehensive control unit connected to the plurality of process furnace control units to comprehensively control the operations of the process furnaces through the plurality of process furnace control units, and an operation unit connected to the comprehensive control unit and the plurality of process furnace control units to transmit operation commands to the plurality of process furnace control units through the comprehensive control unit and, at the same time, to receive operation reports from the plurality of process furnace control units through the comprehensive control unit.
In order to start the operation of the substrate processing apparatus, the substrate processing apparatus is installed, electrical facilities are interconnected, and gas supply lines and exhaust lines are connected. Thereafter, various processes (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a setup process) such as I/O check (I/O operation check of various input/output valves provided in the substrate processing apparatus), interlock check (depressurization operation check of various chambers or depressurization chambers provided in the substrate processing apparatus), and robot teaching (carrying operation check of carrying mechanism provided in the substrate processing substrate) need to be performed at each process furnace.
To promptly start the operation of the substrate processing apparatus, it is preferable to reduce the total time necessary for the setup process by performing the setup process once concurrently at each process furnace.
However, even though the number of operators for the setup process increases, it is difficult to reduce the total time necessary for the setup process. In the setup process of the conventional substrate processing apparatus, such as I/O check, interlock check and robot teaching, the operators must transmit the operation command from the operation unit, and thus, it is difficult to perform the setup process once concurrently because the number (one) of the operation unit provided in the substrate processing apparatus is limited.
The reduction of the time necessary for the setup time may be achieved by installing a test program dedicated to the setup process into the process furnace control units and performing the setup process in parallel at the process furnace control units. However, since the actual program used after the start of the operation and the test program installed into the process furnace control units are different from each other, it is difficult to confirm whether problems arise when the actual program is executed, even though the setup process is performed in the above-described manner.